


Into The Painted Sky

by Nugiha



Category: Boyhood (2014), Hey Arnold!, Total Drama
Genre: Alternate Universe - Genie/Djinn, Coming of Age, Comment Fic, Community: comment_fic, Divorced parents, Family, Friendship, Gen, Growing Up, Origin Story, Runaway, To Read, To Rec
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-11
Updated: 2015-08-11
Packaged: 2018-04-13 17:36:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,564
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4530948
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nugiha/pseuds/Nugiha
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"The best way to live is by not knowing what will happen to you at the end of the day..." - Donald Barthelme : A coming of age story about a boy as he tries to navigate through this maze of life.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Into The Painted Sky

**Author's Note:**

> Title: Into The Painted Sky  
> A/N: AU fic, strictly written for fun. For story purposes, there will be time jumps at certain intervals until Jari's 18.  
> Fandom(s): Total Drama, Hey Arnold!, Boyhood  
> Disclaimer: I own nothing.  
> Summary: "The best way to live is by not knowing what will happen to you at the end of the day..." - Donald Barthelme : A coming of age story about a boy as he tries to navigate through this maze of life.  
> Rating/Warnings: G. OC, OOC, (Slapstick) Violence, and etc.  
> Pairing(s): None  
> Cast  
> Jari Pataki...Freddie Highmore  
> Jari's mother, Michelle Pataki...Kelly Jo Bates  
> Jari's father, Cayden Pataki...Gil Bates  
> Jari's older brother, Jamal Pataki...Zach Bates  
> Jari's older sister, Wasileh Pataki...Michaella Bates  
> Jari's older sister, Rimah Pataki...Erin Bates  
> Jari's older brother, Emmett Pataki...Lawson Bates  
> Jari's older brother, Max Pataki...Nathan Bates  
> Jari's older sister, Melody Pataki...Alyssa Bates  
> Jari's older sister, Irma Pataki...Tori Bates  
> Jari's twin brother, Mohamad Pataki...Trace Bates  
> Jari's younger sister, Rolla Pataki...Carlin Bates  
> Jari's younger sister, Huda Pataki...Josie Bates  
> Jari's younger sister, Aisha Pataki...Katie Bates  
> Jari's younger brother, Sami Pataki...Jackson Bates  
> Jari's younger brother, Raja Pataki...Isaiah Bates  
> Jari's younger brother, Baki Pataki...Warden Bates  
> Jari's younger sister, Fareeza Pataki...Addallee Bates  
> Jari's younger sister, Naira Pataki...Ellie Bates  
> Jari's younger sister, Yasmine Pataki...Callie Bates  
> Jari's younger brother, Amir Pataki...Judson Bates  
> Jari's younger brother, Taj Pataki...Jeb Bates

Outside P.S. 118

Jari Pataki was four, his parents were a djinn named Michelle and a human named Cayden, making him a _djinn_ as well. Djinns were creatures often compared to genies with their phenomenal cosmic powers and wish granting, but were free where as most genies were _not_.

Due to his parents wanting them to learn about the human culture, Jari along with eight older siblings attended a public school, and advised their children not to tell humans about them being djinns or something _bad_ would happen.

On the grass in front of the school laying on their backs and looking up at the sky were Jari and seven of his fellow preschooler friends, a mossy brown-haired boy of latin descent named Alejandro, a long-haired girl of asian descent named Heather, a freckled brown-haired girl of hispanic descent named Courtney, a pale skinned girl with blue and black hair named Gwen, a black-haired boy wearing a light green t-shirt with a black handprint over a camo shirt and black slacks named Trent, a boy with a green mohawk named Duncan, a blond wearing a cowboy hat named Geoff.

"Stop that!" exclaimed Trent, his friend had been getting on his nerves all day, he had tried to ignore it like Geoff and Heather had told him but Jari was a hard person to ignore.

Jari knew that he had it coming, but hadn't expected his friend to snap at him. "Stop what?"

"Stop copying me! It's not funny anymore."

"It is to us _amigo_." Alejandro laughed as he gestured to Geoff and Duncan who were laughing with him.

"He's right." Geoff agreed. Jari smirked, even though Geoff was normally the calm and chilled one of the group, he was still dragged into the troublesome antics of Duncan and Alejandro along with the others.  
  
"Seriously, if you keep copying me Jari, I'm going to-" Trent threatened only to be cut off by glares from Heather and Courtney. "Nevermind."

"Shut up Trent." Heather rolled her eyes. "It's Jari's way of distracting himself."

Duncan like the others wasn't surprised that Heather had come to Jari's defense so quickly. "Distracting himself from what?"

"I think my parents are going to split up." Jari explained, the four-year-old avoided his friend's gazes as he felt their eyes on him.

"No way."

Courtney looked at Jari with concern in her eyes. "I'm so sorry."

"Are you okay?" Trent asked, quickly forgetting his earlier annoyance at his friend.

"What do you think will happen if they do split up?" Gwen had a worried look on her face as she crossed her arms. "Who would you stay with?"

Jari had considered the idea of his parents splitting up _unthinkable_ and hadn't given too much as to what would happen if it did. "I don't know."

***

The Pataki Lamp

Jari was four, like most djinns and genies, his family lived in a magic lamp located in the home of his father's brother Big Bob Pataki. Cayden had left several months ago after his divorce from Michelle, leaving Jari, Jari's seven older siblings, Jamal, Wasileh, Rimah, Emmett, Max, Melody, Irma, Jari's twin brother Mohamad, and Jari's three younger siblings(who were born at the time), Rolla, Huda, and Aisha in the their mother's custody.

One afternoon, Jari had taken a joke literally from his cousin, a blond-haired girl who wore pigtails and a large pink bow in her hair named Helga Pataki, and their friends, a football-headed boy with spiky blond hair that sticks up wearing a tiny blue baseball cap named Arnold, a boy with a tall black afro for hair of afro-american descent named Gerald Johanssen, a short black-haired girl of japanese descent who wore glasses named Phoebe Heyerdahl, a lanky light brown-haired girl with pink barrettes in her hair named Sheena and had run away from home. But Jari who had tried to use his djinn powers to _teleport_ as far as possible hadn't been able to make out of the city before bring caught by the fireman who asked him where his parents were, which led to Jari being given a ride home by the firemen.

"I'm sorry Mommy." apologized Jari, the preschooler _knew_ that he was in trouble, but was hoping that his mother would go easier on him if he apologized. After the firemen brought him back to his uncle Bob's house, Jari had been sucked _forcibly_ back into the lamp by his mother.

Michelle ranted out of frustration, anger, and worry. "What were you thinking!? You had us all worried about you."

"I don't get to see Daddy anymore."

"I know you've been upset about your father and I but that still doesn't excuse you running away, anything could've happened to you."

Jari wondered what _anything_ his mother was talking about, but decided it'd be safer not to ask. "But nothing happened Mommy, I'm fine." he justified.

Michelle had been about to rant at her son again when Jamal butted in. "You're fine now squirt, but you wouldn't be if you were still out there."

"I'll remember that Jamal."

"Don't ever do this again, if you feel like you need to run away, then come talk to me or even one of your brothers and sisters." Michelle said.

***

The Streets

Jari was six, one of his older sisters Wasileh had been sent away after getting into a heated argument with Michelle that ended when Wasileh _conjured_ a knife and pulled it on her mother, that was when Michelle decided it would be best to send her daughter to boarding school. Not fully understanding why his sister wasn't around, Jari had no idea _where_ to place blame.

"How come Wasileh's never around anymore?" Trent asked Jari, he had been wanting to bring it up for awhile but didn't know how to ask, the two were walking down the sidewalk with their friends, Beth, Lindsay, Tyler, Bridgette, and Ezekiel.

Jari hadn't wanted to bring up the subject of his sister but decided to appease his friend anyways. "She got sent to boarding school." he disclosed.

"Boarding school? Why did she get sent to boarding school?" Tyler asked his friend, curiously. Tyler wore a red headband and an equally red tracksuit.

"I don't know, she just disappeared one day."

Beth raised her eyebrows, she was a nerdy farm girl and wore glasses. "That doesn't make sense."

Lindsay's eyes went wide, her long blond hair was held back by a blue bandana, she wore a brown top over a red top and a short orange skirt. "She just disappeared, is she a magician Jerry?"

"It's Jari." the mentioned preschooler corrected, he was used to Lindsay being ditzy and calling everyone she came in contact with by the wrong name. "And no, she's not a magician."

"So she's a wizard?"

"Yes Lindsay, she's a wizard." Jari lied.

"That's pretty cool eh." Ezekiel complimented, he was a homeschooled prairie boy who wore a blue toque over his brown shoulder length mullet, green hoodie over a white t-shirt and blue jeans.

"Dude, he was just kidding." Trent placed a hand on the prairie boy's shoulder.

Bridgette shook her head at how gullible Ezekiel could be at times, she hoped his parents would eventually put him a _real_ school, her long blond hair was in a ponytail and she wore a light blue hoodie and blue jean shorts. "No Ezekiel, witches and wizards aren't real."

"But if they were real, I'd probably be the first to go looking for them." Jari volunteered, little did his friends know, wizards and witches did _actually_ exist.

***

The Pataki Lamp

Jari was seven, his parents Cayden and Michelle had decided to go back together and now Jari had six younger siblings(including Rolla, Huda, and Aisha), Sami, Raja, and the newborn Baki, he was playing a game of tag with Jamal being the tagger and Rimah, Emmett, Max, Melody, Max, Irma, Mohamad, Rolla, and Jari being the runners despite their mother telling them not to. The game was intense, but a vase hit the ground and smashed into _pieces_ once Jari and Rolla ran past it.

The ten siblings then started arguing about whose fault it was that the vase had broken when their argument was interrupted by the appearance of Michelle, she seemed livid as her children looked at each other and gulped. Sure the vase could easily be fixed some djinn magic, but that didn't mean they were off the hook since it was a family _heirloom_.

"Mom, we can explain." uttered Jari in a hesitant tone, he then looked over at Jamal, hoping that his brother knew of a way to get them out of the trouble they were _sure_ to be in. "Tell her Jamal."

"I've told you all time and time again, you're not allowed to play tag in the house." Michelle reminded her kids, she looked at the broken pieces on the floor as she crossed her arms. "Jamal, did you break the vase?"

Jamal knew it was either Jari or Rolla who broke it since they were the only two had been near it but didn't want the two to get in trouble. "Yes, I broke it."

"You weren't even near it Jamal." Melody pointed out. "How could you have broken it?"

"Shut up Melody!"

"Jamal didn't break the vase, I did." Jari confessed in the middle of Jamal and Melody's argument, the guilt would eat him alive if he let his older brother take the blame for something he didn't do, he remembered the same thing happening to his friend, a boy who had stringy black hair concealed by a green cap, wore a black leather jacket over a white t-shirt and blue jeans named Sid.

Michelle shot a stern look to the second grader. "You're in alot of trouble young man, just wait your father gets home."

***

P.S. 118

Jari was seven, he was at school one morning and the teacher had broke the class into groups, in his group Trent, Duncan, Geoff, a gap-toothed boy named Cody, and a red-haired insane girl named Izzy, Jari then looked at the clock and asked the teacher to give him a bathroom pass. Even though he hadn't wanted her to, Izzy asked the teacher for a bathroom pass in order to see what Jari was up to, the insane girl had known her friend was up to _something_ but hadn't been able to get her friend to tell her.

Ditching Izzy proved to be an impossible task, but when they arrived in front of boy's bathroom door, Jari convinced Izzy to wait outside while he went in.

"Please tell you didn't bring the psycho with you." groaned Mohamad, causing Jari to laugh, since he knew his fraternal twin was afraid of Izzy like most of the other students. "She'll ruin everything."

"Relax Mohamad, I asked her to wait outside." Jari murmured as he went over to the sink and turned on the nozzle, the seven-year-old then waved his hand and _generated_ soap bubble mix in the sink while pushing down the stopper, causing foam to spread from the sink to the floor.

Mohamad and Jari then repeated the action to other sinks, spreading soap bubbles everywhere, the brothers had been planning this prank for weeks. "This is going to be epic." said Mohamad.

"As long as Principal Wartz doesn't find out."

"He won't." Mohamad winked at his brother. "We're probably the last two people he would suspect, especially since we're doing this during class."

Izzy started to cackle, causing the two brothers to look up to see the red head stick her head down through the ceiling. "You two could've asked Izzy to help."

"Izzy, I told you to wait outside." Jari injected to his friend, hoping the red-head _wouldn't_ blow their cover.

"I got bored."

"Let's get out of here." Jari suggested to his brother who nodded in the response, the two then ran out of the bathroom, leaving the foam to cover the rest of the room and Izzy to _possibly_ make things worse.

***

Gerald Field

Jari was nine, his older sister Wasileh had begun coming home for visits from _djinn_ academy, but neither Cayden or Michelle would change their minds and let her come back to stay permanently. The week before, Wasileh had taken Jari and Heather to the movies but the latter two had ditched her and she yelled at them after _finally_ finding them in a different movie than the one they were supposed to watch.

Because Cayden and Michelle recently had another daughter, newborn Fareeza, which totaled the number of Jari's siblings to fifteen. It was only from Heather's constant prodding that Jari had even agreed to ditch his sister, so he felt that his friend should've been the one to get chastised, not him who was the 'good' kid.

The nine-year-old had walked to the vacant lot also known as Gerald Field to play baseball with Arnold, Gerald, Helga, Phoebe, Sheena, Sid, and other kids from the neighborhood which included a portly, bulky boy in a blue cap named Harold, a lanky brown-haired and flat-topped boy named Stinky, a boy who had a jet-black undercut hairstyle and wore red glasses named Curly, a freckled boy with bright red hair curled up at the front named Eugene, a brown-haired boy with a bowl haircut who wore dark sunglasses named Iggy, a flattop black-haired boy of hispanic descent named Lorenzo, a brown-haired boy who glasses as well as a red shirt with a white stripe in front of it and black jeans named Peapod Kid, a girl with bowl-cut black hair named Rhonda Wellington-Lloyd, a girl with a blond spider-like hair named Nadine, a brown-haired girl who wore her hair in twin braided pigtails named Lila. On one team was Helga, Phoebe, Rhonda, Nadine, Harold, Sid, Iggy, and Jari while on the other team was Arnold, Gerald, Curly, Lila, Sheena, Peapod, Stinky, Lorenzo, and Eugene.

"Easy out guys." said Helga as the blond noticed Arnold step up to bat, she motioned for her team to move in closer to the infield.

Jari knew that Helga had a bit of extreme crush on Arnold and that's why she was so mean to the football head but he had been about to say something in the latter's defense but remembered his friend was on the _opposing_ team. "I think you ticked him off Helga."

"Get him!" Helga spat.

Arnold had swung the bat and managed to hit the ball way into the outfield before anyone could catch it, the football head then started running around the bases as Helga's team scrambled to get the ball and tag him out. Once Harold got the ball and threw it over to Phoebe who was standing at the fourth base, the bookworm _wasn't_ able to tag Arnold who had slipped past her and made it home which caused whoops of excitement and cheering from his team.

"Nice one." Gerald grinned as he pressed his thumb against Arnold's.

Jari, Phoebe, Rhonda, and Nadine looked at Helga who had gone _red_ in the face. "Someone's pissed." interpreted Jari.

Helga then turned on her team. "You dummies! What was that?"

"I'm sorry Helga, he was too fast." Phoebe told her. Both Rhonda and Nadine were glaring at Helga.

"It's okay Helga, we can get them out on the next one." Jari said, noticing the angry expression on Helga's face.

***

P.S. 118

Jari was ten, he was walking through the playground at school with Alejandro, Heather, Gwen, Trent, Duncan, and Geoff when Bridgette and her friend, a heavyset girl of afro-american descent named Leshawna approached them. Personally Jari considered the two girls bullies, he may have gotten along with Bridgette better than Leshawna at times but they weren't friends anymore, both girls _didn't_ like him and vice-versa.

"What do you two want?" asked Jari as Gwen and Heather chattered away behind him, even though the girls hated _all_ of them to some degree, the ones the two hated the most were Gwen and Heather.

But neither girl spoke up until a teacher, a blond-haired man named Mr. Simmons came over and adressed Jari. "I need you to come with me."

"Why Mr. Simmons?"

"Bridgette told me about a inappropiate comment you made and you're in alot of trouble."

Jari glared at Bridgette and Leshawna who were both smirking at him. "I haven't said anything to either of them all day." replied Jari.

Mr. Simmons yawned out of exasperation as he gestured for Jari to follow him to Principal Wartz's office. "Let's go Jari."

"But I didn't say anything."

"Let's go." Mr. Simmons said. The man's voice sounded tired at this point, Jari kept asking what he supposedly said to Bridgette until Mr. Simmons explained that he had told Bridgette that her chi-chi's weren't big enough, the ten-year-old argued that he _hadn't_ said anything like what Bridgette was describing as he followed the man to the office.

***

Campgrounds

Jari was ten, his new sister Naira had been born about three months ago when his father Cayden had surprised both him by offering to take him out on a camping trip and Jari had decided to invite Arnold to go with them, since his father had allowed him to bring one friend. Once the trio arrived at the campsite, Jari was surprised to see another tent set up that his friend, Mason Evans Jr. and Mason's father, Mason Evans Sr. were staying in.

It turned out that Mason and his father had decided to camp that weekend too, which Jari was okay with, since that meant having another friend around.

After a whole day filled with swimming and fishing, Cayden and Mr. Evans had decided to join the families together to roast smores around a campfire, a fire that Cayden had used his _powers_ to make bigger than it normally would be. Mason, Mason's father, Cayden, Arnold, and Jari had put marshmallows on the end of a stick and placed them into a fire as they all talked and laughed, which allowed Jari not to think about the suspension he had gotten after Bridgette's _false_ accusation.

"We should do this more often." proposed Mason's father, since being divorced from Mason's mother and moving out of town, the man felt that he wasn't spending enough time with his son.

Jari snickered at the surprised look on Mason's face. "I think that would be fun, wouldn't you Mase?"

"Yeah fun." Mason then took his marshmallow out of the fire, placed it in between two graham crackers, and then began eating it.

"How's Samantha? I haven't seen her in a while."

Arnold smiled at the mention of Samantha's name, Mason's older sister was probably one of the only people he knew who could match Harold in being obnoxious. "Does she still torture you?"

Mason nodded his head as Cayden and Mason's father broke away from the conversation to talk about things. "Yes she hasn't changed, you two should come by the house sometime and you'll see what I mean."

"You could always come to mine if she bugs you too much." Jari offered. "I think you might start hitting yourself if you go to Arnold's."

"The boarding house isn't that bad." Arnold said, defensively.

"I'm not knocking the boarding house Arnold, I'm just telling Mason what to expect since I've spent the night there." Jari placated his friend.

***

Bus Stop

Jari was twelve, he had been just about to _teleport_ himself home when two older blond teenagers, Wolfgang and Edmund walked up to him, the two boys had been bullying since him and other kids his age since the fourth grade but their methods had gotten _worse_ this year. By the evil looks on their faces, Jari could tell that they were up to no good.

"Geek waiting for the bus." taunted Wolfgang, the blond then started laughing with Edmund who normally went along with whatever he said.

Jari was sick of having to deal with Wolfgang everyday, he _always_ got revenge on them later with his powers but they were still annoying. "Leave me alone Wolfgang." snapped Jari.

"What are you doing to do about if I don't?"

"I'm tired of you always bullying me and the other seventh graders, get a life."

Wolfgang and Edmund then walked up to Jari and hoisted the small djinn into the air by his underarms. "I'm about to get a life." said Wolfgang.

Jari was thrown by the ground by the blond, the bullies then walked up and started kicking and hitting him repeatedly while he was still on the ground. "Stop!" complained Jari.

"What the heck is going on here?" asked a black-haired tween named Justin as he spotted Wolfgang and Edmund pounding on his friend, he wore a tight green t-shirt, faded blue jeans, and sandals.

"We're giving a freak what he deserves." Wolfgang justified. Justin then joined into the fight which went for a couple of minutes before it was broken up by some other people waiting at the bus stop, which caused Wolfgang and Edmund to run away since they were both worried about the cops being called.

"Are you okay?" Justin asked as he helped his friend to his feet, most people at school thought Justin was self-centered and only cared about his looks, but Jari was a good friend of his and knew differently.

"I'm fine." Jari said, despite being jumped, fortunately he had come out of the fight with _barely_ any bruises.

***

Freeway

Jari was fourteen, sitting in the back of a car being driven by Duncan's father who had come home drunk looking for Duncan's mother who he hadn't been locate the whole day and when the man forced Duncan to go on a drive with him to locate her, Jari and the girls had invited themselves along not wanting anything to happen to _either_ of them. All four of them(in order) Courtney, Jari, Duncan, and Heather were in the backseat with Duncan's father driving, Jari was more than a little nervous since he knew that what he was doing was _dangerous_ and his parents who recently had two more children, Yasmine and the newborn Amir would disapprove.

"Can you please get your dad to slow down?" Jari pleaded to Duncan in a low tone, he had no idea what Duncan's father was capable of drunk.

Duncan's gaze shifted toward the driver's seat and then back to his friend. "If I could ask him, don't you think I would've by now?" zinged Duncan.

"I don't see you doing much of anything." Heather rolled her eyes.

"Guys." Jari started, stopping a fight that was sure to happen between Duncan and Heather, both of them had hot tempers and when they fought, fireworks went off. "Maybe we shouldn't be fighting each other right now."

Courtney pouted when the fight between Duncan and Heather was interrupted, it was entertaining to her since she was usually the one fighting with the juvenile delinquent. "He's right."

Jari felt the car shift when Duncan's father began zigzagging between lanes, his fingers dug into the seat as he and his friends clung to each other out of fear. "Are you crazy?" the small djinn asked Duncan's father.

"He's going to kill us all."

"Don't panic princess." Duncan called Courtney by the special nickname he had given her in pre-k. "We're going to be fine."

"Don't lie to her." Heather hit Duncan in the arm as the queen bee sharply glared at him.

Jari's face went pale as he felt sick to his stomach. "I think I'm going to be sick!"

Duncan grabbed Jari's ear and directed his face towards Courtney. "Don't you dare throw up on me." the punk warned.

Duncan's father soon lost control of the car as he kept zigzagging through the two lanes on the freeway, the car spun several times, but luckily Jari used his _powers_ to stop the car. "Are we breathing?" asked Courtney.

"Of course we're breathing." Heather couldn't believe Courtney was asking such a dumb question, the queen bee breathed a sigh of relief because she like the others knew that things could've gone _worse_.

***

Beach

Jari was fourteen, and is invited to the beach with Arnold, Gerald, Helga, Phoebe, and the rest of the gang, he was laying on his back with swim trunks on and wrinkling his toes in the sand since he didn't know _how_ to swim. The other kids were all in the water, laughing and splashing each other while Jari just looked up at the sky.

"Why aren't you in the water? You scared?" said Harold, the portly boy then got out of the water with Sid and Stinky and the trio walked over to him, Harold along with Sid and Stinky liked to tease Jari but would hurt _anyone_ who did the same.

Jari was tempted to turn Harold into a jellyfish or something but remembered that they were in _public_. "I'm not scared." claimed Jari.

"Prove it, you little baby, go in the water."

"I don't have to prove anything to you Harold."

Harold exchanged a smirk with Sid and Stinky causing Jari to narrow his eyebrows at the trio, before Jari knew it, both Sid and Stinky picked up the small djinn and tossed him into the water. "I reckon this wasn't a good idea!" yelled Stinky to Harold as he saw his friend flailing his arms in a panic.

Jari's head went under three times before finally not coming back up, a concerned Arnold then swam under the water and pulled him to the surface, and then managed to pull him out of the water with help from Helga.

"He's not breathing." Helga laid Jari on the sand as she, Phoebe, Arnold, Gerald, and the gang stood over his body, she then started pumping his chest and performing CPR for a few minutes until finally Jari started coughing up water. "What were you bozos thinking!" the blond turned on Sid, Stinky, and Harold.

"We didn't know he couldn't swim." defended Harold, feeling guilty. "I'm really sorry."

"That's the problem Harold, you never think." Jari said, once he was able to catch his breath.

***

P.S. 118

Jari was sixteen, and was about to walk out of the classroom with Heather for lunch, Bridgette was sitting on a shelf nearby talking to Leshawna, Tyler, a tall buff teen of afro-american descent who wore a white hat named DJ, teenager who wore her hair in short black pigtails named Katie, and Katie's best friend Sadie who wore her hair and clothes similarly to her but had a fairer skin and was on the chubbier side. Last year, Cayden and Michelle had another(possibly the last) child, Taj bringing the grand total of Jari's siblings to nineteen. The small djinn had his eyes averted to the floor, having been avoiding any and all conversation with Bridgette or Leshawna since she got him suspended back in fifth grade.

"Do you have a staring problem or something?" asked Bridgette, Jari was confused as to what was Bridgette was talking about, he _didn't_ want to talk to the surfer much less look at her.

Jari reluctantly turned his eyes to Bridgette's weird gaze. "What are you talking about?"

"Who would want to look at you surfer?" Heather placed her hands on her hips. "You're nothing to look at."

"Shut up Heather." Bridgette got off the shelf and headed for the other side of the classroom. "Let's go over here where he can't stare at me."

Leshawna, Tyler, DJ, Katie, and Sadie were all shooting funny looks at Jari as they followed their friend. "No one was staring at you and if you keep up this charade, I'll sick Eva on you." promised Heather, the queen bee was entirely fed up with the blond's antics.

Jari sighed. "She's not worth it Heather."

"And besides, why would Eva do you any favors Heather? She hates you." Bridgette pointed out.

"She wouldn't do it for Heather, she would for me." Jari answered instead of Heather, it was true that while Eva hated Bridgette, Duncan, Heather, and Courtney, the fitness buff had no problem with Jari.

"I'm so scared, you're going to sick the big bad Eva on me."

"Your friends are just as pathetic as you are." Heather fired back. Leshawna looked ready to punch Heather out the way she did in sixth grade, but luckily DJ and Tyler were holding her back.

"No one's siccing anyone on you, you're not worth it." Jari told Bridgette.

***

Harry Potter Release Party

Jari was seventeen, and had been made to go a release party for the _newest_ Harry Potter book with Jamal, Wasileh, Rimah, Emmett, Max, Melody, Irma, Mohamad, Rolla, Huda, Aisha, Sami, Raja, Baki, Fareeza, Naira, Yasmine, they were all dressed up as a random Harry Potter character left the youngest two Amir and Taj at home. After getting their books signed, the Pataki siblings then started to mingle with the other guests at the party.

Sami, Raja, and Baki then walked up to Jari who was in the middle of a conversation with Arnold and Gerald. "What do you three want?" asked Jari.

"Nothing." Sami burst out laughing and then elbowed Raja and Baki to get the two boys to do the same.

"What's the joke?" Jari was used to his brothers clowning around, neither he or family could predict what would they do next, the trio weren't known as the 'three musketeers' for nothing. "You are not funny."

Raja tried to get his laughter under control. "Yes we are, we're very funny."

Baki agreed. "And you know it too." while Jari could admit that he did find the three musketeers funny, that _didn't_ mean he wanted to let them know that.

"Right." Jari said sarcastically. "I'm going to go get some refreshments."

"Let us come with you."

"Yeah, you'll get to be seen with your three coolest little brothers." Sami emphasized. Jari reluctantly nodded his head as he headed over to the refreshment table with three little brothers following behind him.

Jari then grabbed a cup and filled it with soda. "It's Dr. Pepper." observed Jari as he raised the cup to his lips and started drinking.

"I want some."

"I'll get some sprite instead." Raja quavered.

***

P.S. 118 Graduation Ceremony

Jari was seventeen, and had just recieved his diploma, making his graduation from P.S. 118 official. The first people he and Mohamad walked over to were Cayden, Michelle, and their nineteen siblings who all congratulated them and gave them hugs.

There had been bumps in the roads when it came to Jari graduating such as him ditching school with Duncan, Heather, and sometimes Courtney but the tons of nudging that came from Michelle and his older siblings had compelled him to get his act together and actually graduate.

Surprisingly when Jari looked over at Heather, who hadn't spoken to him in weeks since they brokeup, the queen bee gave him a small smile before turning her attention back to her family. Several people had warned Jari against dating one of his friends, since when or if they broke up, the friendship would be _ruined_ forever.

"Your mother and I have never been proud of you." exulted Cayden as he hugged his son and patted him on the back, Jari was surprised that his father had even showed up to the graduation, since the man had told him last week that he _wasn't_ able to get out of work but the small Djinn wasn't complaining.

Jari smiled and returned his father's hug. "Thanks Dad." he murmured.

"Your mother prepared a big dinner, are you ready to go champ?"

"Sure, just let me go say goodbye to some of my friends." declared Jari. The djinn then walked over to Gwen, Heather, Trent, Alejandro, Geoff, Courtney, and Duncan who were all laughing and talking about what colleges they would be attending after high school, he decided to put his awkwardness being around Heather to the side as before joining his friends who all greeted with hugs(Gwen, Heather, Courtney) or side-hugs and fistbumps(Trent, Alejandro, Geoff, and Duncan).

***

Epilogue.

Jari was eighteen, and was preparing to move out, he was going to Djinn Academy in order to learn how to become the most powerful Djinn he could be. It was a tradition that the Pataki family had followed for many generations before him, once he graduated from Djinn academy, it was up to Jari to decide what he wanted to do next whether it be being someone's 'genie' or remaining a free Djinn. 

Michelle and Cayden attempted to make their marriage work after Jari and Mohamad moved out, but it was not meant to be, the two were planning to divorce the day Taj planned eighteen and had no plans to add a twentieth child to their brood.

Heather and Jari tried to remain friends, but realized that it was too awkward and both regretted ruining their friendship by dating each other, however the two did part ways amicably and simply stopped talking to each other. Luckily Duncan, Courtney, Gwen, Geoff, Alejandro, and Jari were all still good friends, in fact Jari was thinking about telling them about him being a Djinn but had to be careful about it since the only knew about Djinns were the ones who owned 'genies'.

**Author's Note:**

> This is all that I have to write for this story, thanks for reading. There may or may not be a sequel out eventually.


End file.
